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And this is reason #4534 why i refuse to buy internet-connected anything. Cannot force a subscription on me without a way to connect to the internet! I spent a

And this is reason #4534 why i refuse to buy internet-connected anything. Cannot force a subscription on me without a way to connect to the internet! I spent a lot of time looking for a non-smart washer and dryer. Recently I spent a lot of time looking for a non-smart dishwasher. I suspect my next car purchase will be complicated by this as well.

vosper 3y ago
Reason #1 why I would never buy an internet-connected camera is all the times people have hacked them. Someone I know recently had a random talk to her out of her cloud-connected baby monitor. The companies who make internet-connected baby monitors do not give a shit about security. We have an Infant Optics DXR-8 Pro for our baby monitor. It's cheaper than the device mentioned in the article, is not connected to the internet/wifi in any way, and works great. I've just bought another one.
- tivert 3y ago
  > Someone I know recently had a random talk to her out of her cloud-connected baby monitor. The companies who make internet-connected baby monitors do not give a shit about security. Yeah, I bought an old-school audio-only radio baby monitor for just that reason. Sure, a HAM in a van could theoretically creep out my kid that way, but the physical proximity required makes that extremely unlikely.
  - heavyset_go 3y ago
    Back in the day, you could listen to neighbors' phone calls and baby monitors by just turning your own wireless phone and/or monitor.
- Cerium 3y ago
  I agree that the Infant Optics monitor is great. Totally foolproof, decent range (unless you have concrete walls) and much lower latency than any of the internet connected devices I have seen. I also recommend Phillip's line of audio only monitors. They are even lower latency and have an excellent filtering algorithm built in. I can play lullaby at a decent volume and it won't let any audio through, but as soon as baby makes a tiny noise the audio comes through clearly (including the music of course). It saves a bit of mental load from listening to baby music all the time.
throwaway14356 3y ago
buy old world device's, they are remarkably repairable.
tivert 3y ago
> I suspect my next car purchase will be complicated by this as well. Yeah. I bought my car 5 years ago, and even then it was a trend to stick a cellular modem in the car to sell a subscription remote start/car tracking service. It was hard, but I determined that my car didn't have a modem (by asking the sales guy if they needed to install a part to activate the service, or if they could just do it from their computer over-the-phone). My wife's care does have a modem, and I've been tempted to disconnect the box for those features (it's separate from the head unit), or install a dummy load in place of the antenna.
jstarfish 3y ago
> Cannot force a subscription on me without a way to connect to the internet! They also can't retract, brick, or remotely-control whatever it is post-sale. Tech is entering the post-intimacy, post-honeymoon, abusive phase in its relationship with users. The companies involved are seeing what's possible to get away with and exploiting it at every opportunity.
jkaplowitz 3y ago
Interesting - I've seen that washers, dryers, and maybe dishwashers can connect to the Internet, but I've never yet seen it be mandatory as it sometimes is with e.g. smart TVs. And I did buy a washer and a dryer within the last few years, although that was in Canada rather than the US. Where are you looking that you're only seeing washers and dryers that require rather than merely permit an Internet connection?

vosper 3y ago

Reason #1 why I would never buy an internet-connected camera is all the times people have hacked them. Someone I know recently had a random talk to her out of her cloud-connected baby monitor. The companies who make internet-connected baby monitors do not give a shit about security. We have an Infant Optics DXR-8 Pro for our baby monitor. It's cheaper than the device mentioned in the article, is not connected to the internet/wifi in any way, and works great. I've just bought another one.

tivert 3y ago
> Someone I know recently had a random talk to her out of her cloud-connected baby monitor. The companies who make internet-connected baby monitors do not give a shit about security. Yeah, I bought an old-school audio-only radio baby monitor for just that reason. Sure, a HAM in a van could theoretically creep out my kid that way, but the physical proximity required makes that extremely unlikely.
- heavyset_go 3y ago
  Back in the day, you could listen to neighbors' phone calls and baby monitors by just turning your own wireless phone and/or monitor.
Cerium 3y ago
I agree that the Infant Optics monitor is great. Totally foolproof, decent range (unless you have concrete walls) and much lower latency than any of the internet connected devices I have seen. I also recommend Phillip's line of audio only monitors. They are even lower latency and have an excellent filtering algorithm built in. I can play lullaby at a decent volume and it won't let any audio through, but as soon as baby makes a tiny noise the audio comes through clearly (including the music of course). It saves a bit of mental load from listening to baby music all the time.

throwaway14356 3y ago

buy old world device's, they are remarkably repairable.

tivert 3y ago

> I suspect my next car purchase will be complicated by this as well. Yeah. I bought my car 5 years ago, and even then it was a trend to stick a cellular modem in the car to sell a subscription remote start/car tracking service. It was hard, but I determined that my car didn't have a modem (by asking the sales guy if they needed to install a part to activate the service, or if they could just do it from their computer over-the-phone). My wife's care does have a modem, and I've been tempted to disconnect the box for those features (it's separate from the head unit), or install a dummy load in place of the antenna.

jstarfish 3y ago

> Cannot force a subscription on me without a way to connect to the internet! They also can't retract, brick, or remotely-control whatever it is post-sale. Tech is entering the post-intimacy, post-honeymoon, abusive phase in its relationship with users. The companies involved are seeing what's possible to get away with and exploiting it at every opportunity.

jkaplowitz 3y ago

Interesting - I've seen that washers, dryers, and maybe dishwashers can connect to the Internet, but I've never yet seen it be mandatory as it sometimes is with e.g. smart TVs. And I did buy a washer and a dryer within the last few years, although that was in Canada rather than the US. Where are you looking that you're only seeing washers and dryers that require rather than merely permit an Internet connection?